7. 007 I see
After they came out, Su Changguo walked ahead without saying a word. It wasn't until they turned two alleyways that his back slumped, and he said wearily, "Go pack some clothes and come back with me for a few days."
Su Yu pushed the door open and went in, then turned back to ask him, "Would you like to come in, sit for a while, and have some water?"
The straight-talking voice replied, "Not thirsty."
Su Yuyue quickly went into the house, took out a set of clothes that were not patched and were still decent from the closet. The porcelain cup for drinking water, wooden comb, toothbrush, Zhonghua toothpaste that looked like ointment, and bath towel on the table were all wrapped in a patched shirt, tied in a knot, put in a small bamboo basket, and carried on her arm before going out.
In this day and age, owning a cloth bag is something to be envied and even a little sour. If you have the cloth to sew a bag, you might as well make a piece of clothing for your family.
Ping An rode back on a bamboo pole, sweating profusely, only to see his stepmother carrying a basket and about to leave. He recognized the old man standing outside the door; it was his stepfather. Seeing this, he felt a little lost. Where was his father? Why hadn't Xu Yuan been picked up? Was Xu Yuan's mother leaving too?
"Peace." Su Yu also noticed him. "Did you bring your keys? I locked the door."
Seeing him shake his head, Su Yu hung the key with the red string around his neck. "Don't lose it. Your dad is at your grandma's house. If he doesn't come back for lunch, go to your grandma's house for lunch."
"Father, let's go." She turned around and called to the old man.
"Um."
Ping An clutched the key hanging from his chest, turned to look at the person walking further and further away, the bamboo pole between his legs scraping against the ground with a "crackling" sound.
"Where are you going?" he asked as he caught up with the bamboo pole.
"I'm going home," Su Yu said, continuing to walk.
"When will you be back?" the little boy asked, looking up at her as he followed behind.
"I'm not coming back. I'm getting a divorce from your father."
Su Changguo turned his head, frowned, and glanced at her, his face darkening as he remained silent.
Ning Ping'an didn't reply. He followed her for a couple more steps, then stopped after being told not to follow. He watched the woman, her back straight, walk further and further away until she disappeared from sight around the corner. The straightest bamboo pole he'd snatched from someone was no longer of any use, so he let go and tossed it behind someone's house. He turned and walked back home, head down. When he reached his door, he looked back again, seeing no familiar, quiet figures on the road. He then ran towards his grandmother's house. He was going to tell his father that the woman he'd made call "Mom" had run away.
The sun was scorching hot. Su Yu hadn't been exposed to the sun like this for many years. She took out the unpatched military green shirt from the basket and draped it over her head. Her hands, which weren't carrying the basket, were behind her back, and her bare arms were tucked into the hem of the shirt.
Old Su watched her act up quietly, and finally clicked his tongue in amazement: "People with jobs and incomes are indeed different. Before this, you worked in the fields and your neck was peeling from the sun, but you never cared about it."
Su Yu chuckled but didn't say anything.
"Why didn't you tell your family you were beaten up on the street?" he continued to ask.
"What's the point of telling me? You're not going to let me divorce Ningjin and remarry."
“You can’t scold your mother-in-law, but I’m different. If you had told me back then, I would have gone to seek justice for you like I did today. Why would I have to suffer for so long?” Su Changguo’s pipe started to itch again, and he wanted to knock it on the head of the elm-wood bump next to him.
Su Yu sighed, "There's too much trouble. You'll get angry if I tell you. Ning Jin's mother doesn't learn her lesson. Unless I make her afraid of me, she'll still come looking for trouble even when her son isn't home. You can't come to my house every day to guard it. Besides, there's Ping An's maternal family. None of them are easy to deal with."
"Let Ning Jin talk to him. Once he's settled things on both sides, you can go back with him."
Su Yu didn't respond and kept walking with her head down.
Her reaction made Su Changguo stop and glance at her. "You didn't really mean what I said about you divorcing Ning Jin as soon as possible, or that you marrying him was just to threaten his family, did you?"
He lifted his foot and continued walking, saying in a muffled voice, "Don't take it seriously. I won't agree to let you divorce him. There are fewer than one divorce in the whole town, and my Su family doesn't have any divorced girls."
"There's no precedent, so I'll start from here." She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, glanced up, and realized that after crossing the bridge, it would be another five minutes to the village. She was almost there.
"I don't have a divorced daughter," Su Changguo insisted.
Su Yu didn't respond. She understood Old Man Su's meaning from the beginning, and Ning Jin probably understood as well. If he really wanted to drag her home to get a divorce, he wouldn't have just made vague sarcastic remarks and threats at Ning Jin's mother's house, only managing to smash a table in frustration. If he were truly committed to divorce, he wouldn't have gone to his younger daughter's in-laws' house alone. Women are the best at verbal battles; he would have brought her uncles and brothers to smash up the Ning family's house, and Ning Jin, the son-in-law, would have been beaten too.
Moreover, she was afraid that if she didn't make a big scene, the man wouldn't agree to a divorce.
When they arrived at Xinhe Brigade, work had already ended and there was no one outside. Su Yu watched as her father led her around like a thief, avoiding people, until they entered the gate before she breathed a sigh of relief.
Su Yu felt both angry and amused. "Regretting bringing me back? Afraid I'll embarrass you? Does that mean you'll have to hide at home from now on?"
"Little sister is back?" A young female voice came from the other side of the courtyard. It was Sister-in-law Su Yu, who was also the only sister-in-law. She had only been married into the family for less than two years before they separated. Now the two families' houses were connected, sharing a courtyard and a main room, but they cooked separately, with two kitchens on the east and west sides.
"Yes, my sister-in-law is cooking." She saw her holding a spatula.
"Okay, please come inside. I've got a fire burning in the stove." Wang Hongmei smiled and turned to go inside.
She didn't ask why she came back, nor did she mention having lunch at her house, so Su Yu didn't say anything, nor did she run to the kitchen to ask if she needed any help, as she used to.
"Mom, I'm back. What did you make?" She came into the house and sat comfortably by the stove, helping to tend the fire.
"Food for people to eat."
"..."
"Grandma, I'm back. What did you cook?"
As expected of mother and son, they asked the exact same questions as they entered. He was shirtless, wearing only shorts, and when he saw the woman watching him by the stove, he exclaimed "Wow!" twice in surprise, rushed over and hugged her, "Mom, did you come to pick me up?"
"Why are you as dark as an eel?" She sat on a small stool, the same height as her seven-year-old son who was standing, and felt the wet touch on her face. She ruffled his hair. "Did you go swimming in the river again?"
"Yeah, it was too hot, so I went into the river with my cousin and the others." He whispered to his mother, who was always afraid he would drown and never let him go into the water.
Su Yu slapped his butt twice. "If you go back into the water, I'll skin you alive," she threatened, mimicking the woman in her memory.
Yu Anxiu walked over from the stove, waved the two people away, added firewood with one hand and wiped her sweat with the towel hanging around her neck with the other, "Get out of here, both of you! Didn't you see the fire was gone from the pot while you were sitting by the stove? Aren't you going to eat lunch?"
"You go out, I'll light the fire for your grandmother." Su Yu got up and then sat down again.
At noon, I cooked two dishes: braised pork with eggplant and loofah and egg soup, along with some rice. After the food was served, Yu Anxiu ate a bowl of braised pork with eggplant and took it to her son's family next door. When she came back, she was carrying a bowl of stir-fried sweet potato vines.
Her mother was a good cook. Although Su Yu could also cook, her mother's cooking was more homely. With this rare meal, she ate a bowl of rice that was a bit hard to chew.
He had just put down his bowl and was about to go to sleep. His grandmother was fanning him as he lay on the cool bed. Su Yu cleared the table and washed the dishes. While washing her greasy hands with smelly soap, she also washed the greasy wooden basin and put it in the sun to dry.
After dawdling for a while, she went inside and saw the elderly couple still sitting at the dining table. She sighed, resignedly sat down in a chair, and said with her head down, "Go ahead and tell me, it'll help us sleep better."
“Since you’re back, stay a few more days and see how your father-in-law reacts when he finds out. Once Ningjin has sorted things out and his family has apologized, he can come and pick you up. Don’t bring up the divorce again.” It was Su Changguo who spoke first.
“Dad, Mom, I really can’t handle this complicated relationship. I don’t want to deal with either of Ping’an’s grandma or his maternal grandma. For the past six months, Xiao Yuan and Ping’an haven’t gotten along well either. They fight and argue every few days.” Seeing that their expressions remained unchanged, she added fuel to the fire: “When I had heatstroke and couldn’t breathe, I fainted and there was no one around me. I don’t know how long I was unconscious. When I woke up, there was still no one around me. I was so dizzy that I didn’t dare to open my eyes. I could only gasp for breath. That’s when I realized that you have to rely on yourself. Relying on others will lead to their collapse. Relying on others will lead to their departure.”
“That was just an accident. The fact that you were alone this time doesn't mean you won't be there next time. As for your in-laws and Ping An's maternal grandmother, Ning Jin is a smart man; he knows what to do.” Su Changguo glanced at his youngest daughter across from him, sighed, and said, “You're my daughter, so I don't need to flatter you. You're quiet and honest, indecisive, and don't know how to worry. Ning Jin is quick-witted, good at making money and supporting a family, and while he's shrewd, he's not malicious. Even though you're both remarried, frankly, you're the one who benefits. Fortunately, you're kind-hearted and innocent, and that's what he values in you. He can entrust Ping An to you with peace of mind, and he can drive his truck without worry. I'm telling you this: even if you're determined not to treat me like your daughter and want a divorce, you won't find a man as suitable as him in the future.”
"That's not necessarily true; his family has so many troubles."
"Xiao Yu, do you have someone else outside?" Yu Anxiu asked, stopping the fan she was holding.
"No, I'm not the kind of person who's always looking for something better." This was the second person to ask her if she was seeing someone else. She suspected that everyone who knew she wanted a divorce had this question, like her father, but he just didn't want to ask.
"Since you don't have one, just live your life honestly." Su Changguo was getting impatient after saying so much, and bluntly said, "If you get a divorce, you can be a vagrant outside. Your family won't accept your household registration, and I'll send Xiao Yuan back to the Xu family."
He softened his tone after saying that, “The most capable thing you’ve done all these years is to have Ningjin under your thumb. He’s willing to buy you a job and help you raise your son. Now you have your household registration in town, you have money and food every month, and you’re living comfortably. You keep saying you want a divorce, but after the divorce, you’ll lose your job, your household registration will be transferred out, and you won’t be able to go back to the Xu family. Without money and a home, what will you eat and drink? Who will raise Xiaoyuan? Your mother and I are both in our sixties and seventies, and we’ll soon have to rely on your brother for support. We can’t help you raise your child.”
Su Yu sighed. She found the reason why "Su Yu" was bullied and kept quiet. She remarried and took her son with her. She moved her household registration to the town. She and her son relied on Ning Jin for everything they ate, lived in, used, and earned. She had no way out, nor a better way out. So she wanted to maintain the status quo by enduring, intending to "become a mother-in-law after many years" and gain the approval of everyone in the Ning family.
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